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Personality Without Genes?

Explore the genetics of personality and discover why SNPs linked to the Big 5 traits remain elusive in recent meta-analyses.

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According to apaper just published (but available online since 2010), we haven't found any genes for personality.

The study was a big meta-analysis of a total of 20,000 people of European descent. In a nutshell, they found no single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with any of the "Big 5" personality traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. There were a couple of very tenuous hits, but they didn't replicate.

Obviously, this is bad news for people interested in the genetics of personality. But I wonder if the implications are even wider -

We know that there are SNPs associated with physical traits like height, weight, hair colour, eye colour, and the risk of various diseases. If none of those SNPs are associated with personality, then none of those traits are causally associated with personality.

"Short man syndrome"? A myth. Rod Stewart was wrong about blondes. There's no ...

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